Travel cards

SavingStudent1

Hi everyone,

I just had a few questions on travel cards and how they work.

1. If I have a Monzo debit card. If I want to go abroad to USA and get cash in USD from the account, what options do I have? I was thinking:
- Exchange pounds to USD before I leave, at a bank, post office, foreign exchange etc.
- Go abroad and exchange pounds to USD in USA, e.g. at airport, or a foreign exchange.
- Withdraw from an ATM in USA up to £200 for free and paying 3% charges on any amount above that?

2. To get Monzo to be a main bank, if I am trying to go for Option 1, what does this mean?

• At least £500 was paid into a Monzo account in your name over the last rolling 35-day period, and you have at least one active Direct Debit on the same account in the same period.

Let's say I am going to USA next week. If I put £600 today, then the first part of the condition would be met. Then, could the direct debit be to another bank? For example, let's say I have a direct debit of £50 a month into a savings account from the Monzo account - would that work? Just waned clarity of what is an 'active' direct debit?

Also, let's say I go for 3 months, then the 35-day period would stop after a month, then could I transfer money from my UK bank account into my Monzo account and this would again meet that condition?

3. For the Chase current account, it says "You can withdraw up to £500 a day from cash machines (whether in the UK or abroad). If travelling abroad, there is also a £1,500 limit on cash withdrawals from your Chase current account in any calendar month." I assume that is only for cash withdrawals from an ATM abroad, but it doesn't mean the money that you can spend i.e. you can spend using your debit card abroad on top of that. E.g., if I want to spend £2000, I can withdraw £1500 and also pay the £500 using my debit card as normal.

4. Which is the best card to use abroad - not necessarily USA - to avoid fees: is it Monzo vs Chase vs Starling vs First Direct? I'll probably get two cards, in the event that one doesn't work? Also, are any particularly attractive financially such as they give access to savings account with the bank that give good rates? For example, I know first direct have their regular saver account which is quite good.

Thank you!

DullGreyGuy

1 yes, but why do you need cash? Like the uk most transactions are by card these days

2 pass, don't use the bank

3 cash is from an ATM, debit card payments don't count towards the limit

4 Your listing debit cards... is it just debit cards you are interested in? I use Starling for cash, not saying it's better than the others but was the first I spotted and liked the app (esp compared to the likes of Barclays). For non-cash I use a credit card as I would in the UK. 

I do have Chase as well, but that was to access their savings last year when they had good rates for a lump sum... haven't looked at rates recently. 

The other consideration is ATM fees, whilst the cards listed won't charge you an FX fee many overseas ATMs do charge you. In some cases some banks waive the ATM fee for their own cards even if issued overseas. So Santander in some countries won't charge a UK Santander card the normal £3 withdrawal fee if its a proper in branch machine (not one in a cornership etc)... the same may be true with HSBC, Chase and other multi-national banks so it somewhat depends where you are travelling to and how common those brands of ATMs are there. 

eskbanker

SavingStudent1 said:

4. Which is the best card to use abroad - not necessarily USA - to avoid fees: is it Monzo vs Chase vs Starling vs First Direct?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

SavingStudent1

DullGreyGuy said:

1 yes, but why do you need cash? Like the uk most transactions are by card these days

2 pass, don't use the bank

3 cash is from an ATM, debit card payments don't count towards the limit

4 Your listing debit cards... is it just debit cards you are interested in? I use Starling for cash, not saying it's better than the others but was the first I spotted and liked the app (esp compared to the likes of Barclays). For non-cash I use a credit card as I would in the UK. 

I do have Chase as well, but that was to access their savings last year when they had good rates for a lump sum... haven't looked at rates recently. 

The other consideration is ATM fees, whilst the cards listed won't charge you an FX fee many overseas ATMs do charge you. In some cases some banks waive the ATM fee for their own cards even if issued overseas. So Santander in some countries won't charge a UK Santander card the normal £3 withdrawal fee if its a proper in branch machine (not one in a cornership etc)... the same may be true with HSBC, Chase and other multi-national banks so it somewhat depends where you are travelling to and how common those brands of ATMs are there. 

Thanks, that is fine. The only reason I asked for 2. is because it says Monzo bank has unlimited withdrawals, so there is no limit to the ATM withdrawal which is handy if you need cash. I only asked as some stores only accept cash, very rarely but sometimes it can be an issue. I understand that it won't be in big amounts - it would be silly of a store to say cash only for a huge spending like £100 equivalent, for example.

4. Yep, I tend to stay away from credit cards from personal preference. I haven't got one yet, but I will do but most likely just to improve my credit score rather than use it for everyday stuff. I am only looking for debit card for normal payments at stores etc.

Regarding the ATMs, I was thinking for a card to be used at any ATM e.g. Monzo can be used at a general ATM - although the ATM may have its own fees. However, Santander may not charge to withdraw from their ATM but would they have currency conversion fees - this is what I meant. For example, I could withdraw £100 as USD from an ATM using Monzo and be charged £3 as the ATM fee but no currency transaction charge, whereas for Santander, I might be charged the currency transaction charge but not the ATM fee.

DullGreyGuy

SavingStudent1 said:
Regarding the ATMs, I was thinking for a card to be used at any ATM e.g. Monzo can be used at a general ATM - although the ATM may have its own fees. However, Santander may not charge to withdraw from their ATM but would they have currency conversion fees - this is what I meant. For example, I could withdraw £100 as USD from an ATM using Monzo and be charged £3 as the ATM fee but no currency transaction charge, whereas for Santander, I might be charged the currency transaction charge but not the ATM fee.

Santander have fee free cards too so potentially you get the benefit of no ATM fee and no FX fee but of no help if you are going somewhere with no Santander ATMs. The same may apply to other banks

Ponchos

If you're looking for a new/an extra card then I would highly recommend Starling. I've been with them for a few years, including when I was travelling in New Zealand, Australia and around Asia. I never had any problems with them or the card. I managed to lose my card in Indonesia, the chatsupport was brilliant and I had a replacement card in my hand 6 days later (it would have been sooner but there was a weekend in the way, so 6 days was amazing), and the app is really easy and straight forward. The account had 3.25% interest on up to £5000 as well. Of course there are better rates with some other banks, but depends on what you want from the account.

penners324

Wouldn't take cash with you. Just use ATMs and debit card spend.

So probably not Monzo. The others you mention will be fine

SavingStudent1

DullGreyGuy said:

SavingStudent1 said:
Regarding the ATMs, I was thinking for a card to be used at any ATM e.g. Monzo can be used at a general ATM - although the ATM may have its own fees. However, Santander may not charge to withdraw from their ATM but would they have currency conversion fees - this is what I meant. For example, I could withdraw £100 as USD from an ATM using Monzo and be charged £3 as the ATM fee but no currency transaction charge, whereas for Santander, I might be charged the currency transaction charge but not the ATM fee.

Santander have fee free cards too so potentially you get the benefit of no ATM fee and no FX fee but of no help if you are going somewhere with no Santander ATMs. The same may apply to other banks

penners324 said:

Wouldn't take cash with you. Just use ATMs and debit card spend.

So probably not Monzo. The others you mention will be fine

Thanks both!

Ponchos said:

If you're looking for a new/an extra card then I would highly recommend Starling. I've been with them for a few years, including when I was travelling in New Zealand, Australia and around Asia. I never had any problems with them or the card. I managed to lose my card in Indonesia, the chatsupport was brilliant and I had a replacement card in my hand 6 days later (it would have been sooner but there was a weekend in the way, so 6 days was amazing), and the app is really easy and straight forward. The account had 3.25% interest on up to £5000 as well. Of course there are better rates with some other banks, but depends on what you want from the account.

Yep, I saw this as well and it was the highest rate for the current account out of the lot. That is really helpful, thank you for sharing your experience.

ColdIron

Chase works well for me and you'll even get 1.00% cashback on some spends

grumbler

eskbanker said:

SavingStudent1 said:

4. Which is the best card to use abroad - not necessarily USA - to avoid fees: is it Monzo vs Chase vs Starling vs First Direct?

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/travel-credit-cards/

Travel money tips

[Deleted User]

If you're going to the USA then Chase is no brainer as it has one of the largest ATM networks in the USA - using Monzo/Starling/First Direct you'll get charged around $5 per withdrawal.

There is also the Nationwide FlexOne or Student accounts - they don't charge for overseas use and are a Visa card - which is useful as others are Mastercard.